(NewsTarget) By powering your house with solar panels instead of using nonrenewable sources, you could help fight global warming. That's what Ohio State University physicist Robert Davis hopes to see in the near future, as the university just received $18.6 million to build a solar cell development center.

• Davis says that the biggest issue right now with solar technology is cost effectiveness.

• The new center at OSU aims to focus on commercializing solar panel technology to bring the cost within reach of the average consumer.

• Many consumers avoid solar energy because they find the costs prohibitive.

• One-tenth of the nation's electricity is generated by solar energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

• Bill Spratley, executive director of Green Energy Ohio, told the Ohio State University Lantern newspaper that he thinks the state of Ohio could soon be a powerhouse in solar energy because it manufactures both glass and steel.

• The new center being built is planned to strengthen collaboration in advancing solar energy from three universities, two technology centers, one green energy organization and 20 Ohio companies.

• "If someone comes up with a solar array that you can put on your roof and then cut your electric bill in half, that person is going to make a lot of money," Davis told the Lantern.